Contrast filter selecting means for photographic printing apparatus



i 55 U 3 1 5 T Oct. 25, 1955 5 $|QK 2,721,507

CONTRAST FILTER SELECTING MEANS FOR HOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS Filed UCt. 18, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 69 63 I! g p Q43 INVEN'I OR. ,2

FRANK 5 SIOK Oct. 25, 1955 F, 5. $10K 2,721,507

CONTRAST FILTER SELECTING MEANS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 18, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 INVEN'I'OR.

////FRANK s. SIOK AW TOR/VEYS United States Patent CONTRAST FILTER SELECTING MEANS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS Frank S. Siok, Chicago, 11].

Application October 18, 1954, Serial No. 462,797

6 Claims. (CI. 95-73) This invention relates to photographic printing apparatus particularly of the type which prints negatives of various densities by the use of variable contrast filters to obtain prints that are satisfactory in both highlights and shadows without the necessity of using different kinds and grades of sensitized papers.

In photographic printing apparatus of this general character a plurality of filters of different colors or screens to diffuse, subdue or modify the light are selectively movable into and out of the path of light from the light source to the negative; and the primary object of the invention is to provide improved means for manually moving the filters or screens.

Another object of the invention is to provide in an apparatus of the above indicated character a plurality of superimposed slides which carry the variable contrast filters and which are moved by rack and pinion mechanisms, any one of which may be actuated by a single manually rotatable operating element.

Another object is to mount the rotary operating element or handle on a slide so that it may be shifted to a position for coaction with any one of the rack and pinion mechanisms and then moved into driving connection with the selected filter actuating mechanism.

Another object is to provide a selective filter actuating means which is simple in construction, easy to manipulate and reliable in operation.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts and the novel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which show the present preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation on a very reduced scale of a photographic printing apparatus in which the invention is incorporated;

Fig. 2 is a detail front-to-rear vertical section, on a slightly enlarged scale, through the upper portion of the printer shown in Fig. 1, the parts being somewhat diagrammatically illustrated;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail elevation of a portion of the front of the printer to show the selective filter actuating means, the handle of the manually actuated shaft being omitted, that shaft being shown in section and portions of the rack and pinion actuating mechanisms for the filters being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 4 is a further enlarged detail horizontal section taken substantially on the line 44 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the bearing for the pinion shafts;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the rack-carried filter slides;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the track or guide bars for the handle-carried slide.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the numeral 10 denotes the body or outer casing of the printer. It is of rectangular shape to be supported on the ice floor and includes a front wall 11, a rear wall 12 and a top 13 which is preferably hinged at 14 to the rear wall. Near one end of the top is an opening in which a clear glass plate 15 is set to support the negative and the sensitized paper. If desired a ground glass plate 16 may be slidably and removably supported in suitable guides directly beneath the plate 15. In the lower part of the casing or cabinet 10 vertically beneath the plate 15 is a light source 17. The latter may be a bank of 0 dodging lamps controlled by a plurality of individual rheostats 18 and a main rheostat 19 all mounted on the front wall 11, as will be seen on reference to Figs. 1 and 2. The light source may also include safety and work lights 20. These lamps 20 may be controlled by a light switch 21, a viewing light switch 22 and a work light switch 23, all mounted on the front wall above the bank of dodging rheostats. A volt meter 24 is mounted on the rear of the top 13 and on the other or left end of the front of the casing is an automatic timer 25 with a control switch. The negative and sensitized paper are pressed against the plate 15 by a flexible platen 26 Which may be hinged to the top at 27 and may comprise resilient strips connected by spaced bars and carrying a sponge rubber pad 28. Across the free end of the platen is a rigid member carrying a handle 29, a latch pin 30 and light switch pin 31. These pins enter openings in the top 13 and coact a push type light switch 32 mounted beneath the cover at its front and having a push pin 33 for locking and releasing the platen pin 30. When the platen is released it is moved to its elevated position shown in Fig. 2 by a weight 34 connected by a cord 35 to the free end of the platen.

Mounted within the body or casing 10 are a plurality of horizontal slides 40 each of which carries a filter or screen 41, the slides being individually shiftable longitudinally of the casing to bring the filters into and out of vertical registration with the light source 17 and the clear glass plate 15. Each slide 40 may be a rectangular sheet of metal or other substantially rigid material, having an opening in or over which is suitably fastened the filter or screen. Along the front of each slide on its bottom is a longitudinal rack bar 42. The slides are supported in suitable guides on upright front and rear longitudinally extending frame plates 43 spaced from the front and back walls 11 and 12, the lower edges of the plates 43 having flanges 45 bolted or otherwise removably secured to horizontal angle metal strips 46 fastened to the casing walls, as seen in Fig. 2. The rear edges of the slides 40 move in grooved or channeled guides 47 suitably mounted on the rear frame plate; and if desired similar grooved guides or supports may be mounted on the end walls of the casing to receive the end edges of the slides 40 when they are in either of their extreme positions. The guides for the front edges of the slides are different, as hereinafter described, since those front edges carry the rack bars 42.

The filter slides 40 are selectively operated by a single rotatable operating member 50 which is shiftable to coact with any one of the rack and pinion actuating mechanisms which move the slides. Each of these mechanisms includes one of the rack bars 42 and a coacting pinion 51 on a shaft 52. The actuator 50 may be a crank handle or hand knob on the outer end of a main shaft 53 mounted for rotation in a slide 54 which may be shifted to axially aline the shaft 53 With any of the pinion shafts 52. As seen in Fig. 3, the several pinion shafts 52 are not only in different horizontal planes but are horizontally offset so that the slide 54 must be shifted along an inclined plane which passes through the axes of the several shafts 52, in order to aline the operating or driving shaft 53 with any one of the pinion shafts. The selector slide 54 has the shape of a parallelogram the long sides of which are horizontal and is mounted in a similar shaped housing 55 the short sides of which are horizontal. The long sides 56 of the housing or casing 55 have outwardly projecting flanges 57 secured by fastenings to the outer side of the front 11 of the cabinet, and on the opposed inner faces of these sides are removably fastened by screw or the like opposed track bars 58 to be received in grooves or channels 59 formed in the short sides of the selector slide or bar 54. The opposed inner edges of these track or guide bars 58 are formed with seats or sockets 60 adapted to receive spring pressed ball detents 61 set in the channels 59 as seen in Fig. 4. The seats 60 are so located that when the ball detents 61 snap into two opposed seats in the bars 58 the hand or crank shaft 53 will be axially alined with one of the pinion shafts.

The several shafts 52 are rotatable in bushed openings in a bearing bracket 62 removably fastened by screws or bolts 63 to the inner face of the front frame plate 43. This bearing bracket is of stepped formation, as seen in Figs. 4 and and the several pinion shafts vary in length but their front ends project through openings 64 in the cabinet front 11 to the same extent. A suitable disengageable clutch connection is provided between the actuating hand shaft 53 and the front ends of the pinion shafts. Such connection may be made by forming these ends of the shafts 52 with diametrically extending slots 65 adapted to receive a diametrically disposed clutch member 70 carried by the inner end of the shaft 53. The latter is mounted for both rotary and longitudinal sliding movements in an opening 71 in the selector bar or slide 54. As shown in Fig. 4, the male clutch member 70 may be carried by a socket member or collar 72 fastened by a set screw 73 on the inner end of shaft 53, and the outer end of the collar or hub 72 may be so located that it will engage the inner face of the selector slide to limit the outward sliding movement of the shaft 53. The inward movement of that shaft may be stopped by a hub 74 on the handle or crank member 50 which is removably secured to the shaft by a suitable fastening. The pinion shafts 52 are held against longitudinal movement in the bushings of the bracket 62 by the pinions 51 on their inner ends and by stop collars secured by set screws to the shafts and disposed against the front face of the plate 43 as seen in Fig. 4.

On opposite sides of the pinion shaft bearing bracket 62, the forward edges of the filter slides are supported by grooved or channeled guides 76 fastened to the rear face of the inner frame plate 43, as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 2. These supports and guides may be formed by lower plates 77 and upper plates 78 between the rear portions of which are channels 79 of a size to receive both the slide and its rack bar 42. Since the several pinions are horizontally off-set, the filter slides vary in width, as seen in Fig. 2, and the guide channels 79 of the several guides or supports 76 are progressively further from the plate 43. As above noted there is a set of these guides 76 on the plate 43 beyond each end of the bearing bracket 62. For the sake of clearness Fig. 2 shows all of the filter slides 40 superimposed at the right hand end of the cabinet but such is not the normal location of these slides. They are normally in retracted positions at the left hand end of the cabinet. In use one or more of the filter slides will be shifted to the operative position shown in Fig. 2 by the above described operating means.

It is believed the operation of the filter or screen selecting means will be apparent from the above detailed description of the present preferred way of practicing the invention. If desired spring means may be provided for normally holding the shaft 53 in its forward position with the clutch elements 65, 70 disengaged. When the clutch is disengaged, the handle 50 may be grasped and moved to shift the selector slide in the housing 55 to a position to move any one of the filter slides 40 and the coaction of the balls 61 with the seats 60 will cause 4 the shaft 53 to be alined with one of the pinion shafts 52. The handle is then moved inwardly or rearwardly to cause the clutch elements to engage and it is then rotated in the proper direction to shift the filter slide longitudinally in the cabinet to either its operative position or its retracted position.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the objects of the invention, and while preferences have been disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a photographic printer, a casing having a support for a negative and an opposed light source, a plurality of slides carrying filters or screens movable into and out of the path of the light, individual actuating means for each of said slides including a rotary shaft, the shafts of the several actuating means having their axes laterally spaced in a single plane, a selector slide carried by the casing and movable along said plane, a manually actuated operating shaft mounted on said selector slide and having rotary and sliding movements and being movable into positions for operative relation with any one of said rotary shafts by the sliding movement of said selector slide, a clutch element on each of said rotary shafts, a coacting clutch element on said operating shaft movable into driving engagement with the clutch element on any one of said rotary shafts by the sliding movement of said operating shaft together with a housing on said casing in which said selector slide is movable, tracks in said housing on which the selector slide moves, and spring pressed detents on said selector slide to coact with spaced seats on said tracks to hold said selector slide in an adjusted position in which the operating shaft is in alinement with one of said rotary shafts of the several filter slide actuating means.

2. In a photographic printer, a casing having a support for a negative and an opposed light source, a plurality of slides carrying filters or screens movable into and out of the path of the light, individual actuating means for each of said slides including a rotary shaft, the shafts of the several actuating means having their axes laterally spaced in a single plane, a selector slide carried by the casing and movable along said plane, a manually actuated operating element mounted on said selector slide and having rotary and sliding movements and being movable into positions for operative relation with any one of said rotary shafts by the sliding movement of said selector slide, coacting driving members on said operating element and on said rotary shafts and movable into driving engagement by the sliding movement of said operating element, said individual actuating means for each of said filter slides in cluding a rack carried by the slide and a pinion meshing with the rack bar and fixed to the rotary shaft of that actuating means, said operating means being a shaft, said coacting driving members comprising a clutch element on the operating shaft and a coacting clutch element on each of said rotary shafts of the several filter slide actuating means, a housing on the casing in which said selector slide moves, tracks in said housing on which said selector slide is movable, and spring pressed detents on said selector slide to coact with spaced seats on said tracks to hold said selector slide in adjusted positions in any of which the operating shaft is in alinement with one of said rotary shafts of the several filter slide actuating means.

3. In a photographic printer, an elongated casing including front and rear walls and a top, a support for a negative in said top near one of its ends, a light source in said casing and spaced beneath said negative support, a plurality of substantially rectangular vertically spaced slides mounted in said casing for movement lengthwise thereof and each carrying a filter or screen movable into and out of registration with said light source and said negative support, means supported from the rear wall for guiding the rear edges of said slides, rack bars on said slides extending along their front edges, an upright frame plate in said casing supportel from said front Wall in spaced relation thereto and extending lengthwise of the casing, bearing means on an intermediate portion of frame plate, a plurality of shafts rotatably mounted on said bearing means and extending through said plate and through the front wall of the casing, a pinion on each of said shafts in mesh with one of said rack bars, means carried by said frame plate on each side of said bearing means to guide the front edges of said slides, means carried by said frame plate on each side of said bearing means to guide the front edges of said slides, means carried by the front wall of said casing for selectively engaging and actuating said pinion shafts, said last mentioned means comprising a housing on the exterior of the front wall of the casing, a selector slide movable in said housing, a manually actuated operator shaft mounted in said selector slide for rotary and sliding movements, and movable into alinement with any of said pinion shafts by the shifting of the selector slide, and coacting clutch elements, one on said operator shaft and one on each of said pinion shafts, the coacting clutch elements being movable into driving engagement by the sliding movement of said operator shaft.

4. The structure of claim 3 together with means for holding said selector slide in adjusted positions, in any of which positions said operator shaft is alined with one of said pinion shafts.

S. In a photographic printer, a plurality of parallel slides each having a filter or screen movable transversely of the path of light from the light source to the negative, a casing having a front wall, means in said casing mounting said slides in spaced horizontal superimposed relation, a separate rack and pinion mechanism for moving each of said slides, each mechanism including a rack on one of the slides and a meshing pinion on a rotary shaft, the rotary shafts of said mechanisms being disposed at said front wall and equally spaced both horizontally and vertically, whereby the axes of said shafts are disposed in an inclined plane, a selector slide carrying a manually actuated operator .shaft mounted for both rotary and endwise sliding movements, a housing for said selector slide mounted at said front wall and having means guiding said slide in the inclined plane of the axes of said rotary shafts, whereby said operator shaft may be moved into axial alinement with any of said rotary shafts, and coacting clutch elements, one on said operator shaft and one on each of said rotary shafts, the coacting clutch elements being movable into driving engagement by the sliding movement of said operator shaft.

6. The structure of claim 5 together with means holding said selector slide in different adjusted positions, in any of which positions said operator shaft is alined with one of said rotary shafts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,300,970 Riess Nov. 3, 1942 2,511,646 Marmour June 13, 1950 2,557,182 Forgett June 19, 1951 

